BANKING
HK restricts UnionPay cards
Banks are asking Hong Kong property agents to stop accepting China-issued UnionPay (銀聯) cards, as Chinese authorities escalate their crackdown on capital outflows. Ricacorp Properties Ltd (利嘉閣) stopped accepting China-issued UnionPay cards for home purchases yesterday after receiving a verbal notice from banks, a spokesman said. Centaline Property Agency (中原地產) has also implemented the new rule, people familiar with the matter said. China has clamped down on capital flight out of the country as it seeks to stabilize its currency, tightening rules on everything from overseas insurance purchases to corporate dealmaking.
CANADA
EDC sets up in Singapore
Canada’s export credit agency is launching its first global branch in Singapore as the country steps up efforts to boost business ties with Asia following the withdrawal of the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Export Development Canada’s (EDC) branch will allow the agency to facilitate structured finance and corporate finance in local currencies, rather than Canadian dollars, while avoiding delays caused by the time difference, regional vice president Bill Brown told reporters.
MINING
BBIG, Chinese firm ink deal
A state-owned Chinese construction giant yesterday sealed a deal to build a A$6 billion (US$4.6 billion) mining infrastructure project to tap into resource-rich northwestern Australia. Sydney-based BBI Group (BBIG) said the agreement with China State Construction Engineering Corp (中國建築工程) to develop the mine, port and rail project would create a new gateway to the Pilbara region for iron ore exporters. About 3,300 jobs are expected to be created during the construction period from next year, BBIG said, with 900 permanent positions on offer when the facilities are operational. BBIG is majority owned by the Todd Corp, one of New Zealand’s largest companies.
MINING
Chile strike ends
Chilean workers have ended a 43-day strike at the world’s biggest copper mine. The stoppage by about 2,500 workers at the Escondida mine began on Feb. 9 over demands for bonus payments, salary increases and other benefits. Workers on Thursday ended the strike after negotiations failed with majority owner BHP Billiton Ltd. The South American nation’s longest-running mining strike caused an estimated US$700 million in losses.
? AUTOMAKERS
Ford issues profit warning
Ford Motor Co said its profit might fall by half in the first quarter, a bigger drop than analysts predicted, as the automaker scales back production amid a declining US market and deals with rising costs. First-quarter adjusted earnings per share might be US$0.30 to US$0.35, chief financial officer Bob Shanks said on Thursday. Full-year pre-tax profit could slip to about US$9 billion from last year’s US$10.4 billion, with most of the drop-off happening this quarter, Shanks said in a telephone interview.
CONFECTIONERY
Haribo to open in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on Thursday said that international candymaker Haribo is to build its first North American plant employing 400 people in the state. The plant in Pleasant Prairie, near Kenosha, is expected to be operational by 2020, Walker said. Germany-based Haribo is known for its gummy candy.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
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